Almost Honest
by moosegravey
Summary: Lucas Peyton. My take on what happens between them after the season 3 finale. Simple as that.
1. Beautiful Oblivion

**Almost Honest**

**Disclaimer- If I were to own One Tree Hill, Lucas and Peyton would be together, so obviously I don't.**

**Chapter 1-Beautiful Oblivion**

Peyton sat on the curb outside The Blue Post Bar with a killer headache, but considering the amount of alcohol she had earlier, she was surprised that's all that was bothering her.

After her fight with Brooke, she decided to drown her sorrow in booze. She dug her old fake I.D. out of her dresser drawer and made her way to the bar. She had walked there, knowing she would be leaving that night in no condition to drive. Now, however, every time she even attempted to walk, she felt like she was in the middle of a tornado. Her head was pounding, her heart was racing, and the world around her was spinning.

She would have called a cab if only she hadn't blown all her money on drinks. Sometime between practically being thrown out during closing time and now, she had called the only person she could think of, Lucas.

When he got the call, he ran straight over from his mom's café. He literally ran. His car was parked at home and Peyton sounded urgent, so he took off on foot.

When he arrived, Peyton looked up to see no car and realized she would be walking home. "Great,' she groaned out loud.

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just…walking sucks," she frowned.

When he realized what she meant, he threw her a sympathetic smile. "It's not going to be that bad. I'm going to help you all the way, okay?"

She began to nod in response, but quickly made up her mind that did not help her headache at all. "Okay," she said in agreement. "Just promise me we'll go slow."

"Of course," he sighed as he slowly lifted her onto her feet and wrapped one arm around her waist. "Don't worry. I've got you," he smiled, reassuring her as they started making their way down the street.

"Boy, do you ever," she whispered so that he could barely hear her.

They walked like that, with him half-carrying her, all the way to her house. That is, until they discovered her locked house and a key that was nowhere to be found.

Peyton sat down on the steps and emptied her purse. Pens, chap stick, lotion, receipts, loose change….she seemed to have everything but her keys. Meanwhile, Lucas searched every doormat, every rock, every place he could think of for a hide-a-key, but still no luck.

He turned around and saw Peyton with her head down, buried in her hands. He spoke with concern evident in his voice. "Hey. You okay?"

She looked up at him slowly as he kneeled down next to her. "Yea, just dizzy," she nodded.

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you drank half of Tree Hill," he joked playfully.

She smiled slightly as she continued to groan. "I didn't drink that much, but hey, their business is safe because of me. They should be thanking me, but instead it seems like they're repaying me by making my porch spin around and around."

He couldn't help but laugh as he repositioned himself next to her, letting her head rest gently on his shoulder. "It might be a good thing we're locked out. Seeing a thousand faces on your wall spinning around you might be a little freaky."

She was pressed up against him so that he could feel her laugh. "That's why you're here. You can protect me." As she spoke, her face buried itself in his shirt.

"Yea," he breathed, instinctively pulling her closer to his side. Soon, her entire body relaxed and he could hear her steady breathing, and he knew she had fallen asleep.

………………………………...

A few hours later, Peyton awoke in the same spot on the steps and discovered Lucas had also fallen asleep and was resting his head on top of hers. As much as she wanted to stay just like she was, she knew, unlike her, he had someone at home waiting worriedly for him.

"Luke," she whispered, nudging him a little. He stirred a little and mumbled something she couldn't make out. "Luke, you should get home. Your mom is gonna be worried about you. You…you need to go."

"Peyt, right now the only place I need to be is right here. I'm not just going to leave you out here by yourself at night." He looked at her as if she was crazy for even suggesting it.

"But-" she started to reason with him but was soon cut off.

"But nothing. You're not getting rid of me that easily." He spoke with a smirk that made her heart skip a beat, but still she continued to fight him on the issue.

"Lucas, listen to me. I understand you wanting to be the gentlemen that you are, and I appreciate it…I really do. But you have a mother who is probably going crazy wondering where her son is at-" she paused as she checked her watch, then rechecked to make sure she read it right, "four in the morning."

"It'll be okay, okay? I promise. You've just got to calm down and trust me. The world's not going to end if I stay with you tonight," he laughed, not realizing the irony of what he had just said.

She finally gave in and nodded slowly. "So…what now?"

He let out a yawn as she laughed at him. "Hmm…what are my chances of getting you to fall back asleep?"

She answered with a large grin still plastered on her face. "I'd say not very good."

He laughed as he shook his head. "Great," he said sarcastically.

"Hey! You were the one who wanted to stay," she replied, pointing at him playfully.

"Yea, I guess so," he said quietly. After a few minutes of silence, he decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for days now. "So are you ever going to tell me what happened with you and Brooke?"

She looked at him dumbfounded. "That was out of nowhere."

He could tell she was avoiding the subject but he needed to know. "I know, but can you blame a guy for wondering? It's like, I go away and everything's fine and then I come back and everything's changed. I'd just like to know what happened."

"We just got into a fight. And it wasn't even when you were away…because I was gone too," she finished quickly, recalling everything that happened when she went to visit Jake.

"Well, what was the fight about?" he asked.

Tears started welling up in her eyes as she pleaded with him not to make her do this. Not now. "Just drop it, Luke. Please."

It killed him to see the look in his eyes and decided to do what she asked of him. "Fine."

"Thank you," she whispered, her mouth curling up into a half-smile. "So, you still up for that whole sleeping thing?"

"Sure," he smiled, nodding to her.

They both adjusted themselves, trying to find a comfortable position. It ended up with him resting on the porch railing, and her leaning against him. They decided to soak in the silence that had fallen around them, drifting in and out of sleep as time passed.

………………………………...

Peyton woke up and felt Lucas's arms protectively wrapped around her waist. She smiled as she looked up and saw him asleep. She looked back down and suddenly felt an urge to touch him. She began to run her hands along his arms, and soon enough she reached his rough hands. She took a deep breath before grazing her fingers over his slowly. She closed her eyes as she memorized everything about the moment.

Lucas moved slightly and she hurriedly jerked her hands away from his. He opened his eyes and stared down at her, but she didn't dare meet his gaze. When he noticed she was blushing, he couldn't help the grin that grew on his face.

Due to the fact that she was avoiding eye contact at all costs, she looked out and saw something she hadn't noticed before. The sun was rising and painting the sky all different shades.

"Would you look at that," she sighed, her eyes resembling that of a child on Christmas. "It's so beautiful."

Her enthusiasm captivated him. "Yea, it is," he admitted, although he wasn't really paying much attention to the sunrise.

"I…I don't even remember the last time I watched the sunrise," she said, the look of wonderment on her face never fading. She turned to him before speaking again. "This is the kind of thing that gives me hope, you know? Seeing that something in the world can be so perfect, so peaceful. Even if it's only for a moment, it's like…nothing can change that. Nothing can stop it. It's the calm before the storm." She somewhat unwillingly looked up and met his eyes and couldn't pull herself away. She tried to say something, but no words came out.

He was beginning to get lost in her, but he was pulled from his trance when his cell phone began to ring. He took a deep breath before answering and she turned back around wondering what exactly had just taken place. She could hear him in the background talking to his mom, explaining where he was, while she decided to get up.

She walked down the steps and was standing in the yard, so lost in her own thoughts she didn't even hear Lucas hang up the phone and come up behind her.

"Hey," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. He hadn't meant to startle her, but she appeared to be anyway. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but that was my mom. She was just wondering where the hell I was, just like you said she would," he laughed. "But I told her I was with you and so now she knows. And like I said, she's okay with it."

She nodded, "Okay, but you can go now. I know you didn't get much sleep last night, so you must be tired."

He looked at her a little confused. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go by the bar and see if they have my keys, and if they do, I will be coming straight home and sleeping as well."

"What if they don't have them?" he questioned.

She knew he wouldn't be happy until he knew for sure that she was going to be okay. "Well then, you will hear a knock on your door and me asking to crash on your couch," she joked.

He still wasn't' satisfied, but he decided to leave it at that. "Fine, but be safe, okay? Call me when you get back to your house or if you need me to pick you up."

"Ay ay, captain," she saluted, winking at him. They then took off in separate directions; Peyton in pursuit of her missing keys and Luke on his way back to his house.

**A/N-And so ends my first chapter ever. Since I'm new to this, I don't know exactly what to think of it, so be sure and let me know what you think! **


	2. The Truth About the Truth

**Almost Honest**

**Disclaimer- If I were to own One Tree Hill, Lucas and Peyton would be together, so obviously I don't.**

**Chapter 2-The Truth About the Truth**

On his way home, Luke spotted Rachel jogging. Actually, she spotted him. "Hey Luke," she said energetically, slowing down when she reached him. When she noticed he was wearing the same clothes as the day before, she got curious. "Long night?"

He chuckled slightly as he reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Kinda. I was with Peyton. We got locked out, ended up sleeping outside," he yawned.

"I see," she said. "So what's the deal with that exactly?"

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"You and Peyton," she answered. "What's the story there?"

"There isn't one," he lied. "We're just friends, nothing to really alert the media about."

"I've heard enough bits and pieces about the two of you to know you are lying through your teeth right now," she told him, and then raised her eyebrows. "What about when you weren't 'just friends'?"

"That was," he started and then sighed, "that was a long time ago."

"Newsflash, Lucas. That was only last year," she said. "Feelings like that don't go away that fast. It's not normal for feelings to go away that fast."

"Well, Peyton and I have never been normal," he joked a little uncomfortably. She just stared at him, trying to read his eyes as he started getting curious. "Have you been talking to Peyton or something?"

"I tried," she answered simply, "but it seems to be a touchy subject for both of you."

"Look, Rachel, I-"

"What happened exactly? If it means nothing anymore, why not set the record straight? Why keep it a mystery?"

He just stared at her, wondering how she knew about all of this in the first place. "You ask a lot of questions. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Yea…and you avoid answering a lot of questions," she said pointedly at him. She sighed as he looked down. "Luke, I'm sorry…I just don't want you regret things later on."

"Like what?" he asked, unsure of what she meant.

"Like not being honest with yourself….and not going after what you want because you're afraid."

"Okay, thank you, Dr. Phil," he joked before he took on a more serious tone. "I know you mean well. It's just, I've never really talked about Peyton and I to anyone…ever," he said finally.

"Well, I'm not one to pry," she smiled slightly as he let out a sarcastic laugh, "but I think it'd be good for you. For whatever reason, just to get it out there. And my door is always open for that."

She started leave, but she turned around suddenly. "Hey," she said. "Can I ask you one more question?"

"Why not," he laughed, looking at her.

"Did she break your heart?" She could tell he was a bit taken aback by her question. As he looked away and sighed, she knew the answer and nodded slightly. "That's what I thought. Just checking," she said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just making sure I'm not completely delusional," she started jokingly, "…and because you broke hers too." She started to jog off again while he just stared into thin air, letting her words sink in.

Finally, he ran and caught up to her. "How do you know that? Did she say something?" he asked. He didn't like to think of Peyton in pain of any kind, let alone the kind that he would have caused.

"She didn't have to. I see her sometimes," she said as he looked down. "I mean, when she sees you with Brooke…or after talking to you. She just gets that look."

"What look?" he asked shaking his head, not fully understanding.

"She's lonely, and more than that, she misses you," she said, leaving him with a sting of guilt.

He thought of Jake, Ellie, anything to help ease the feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. "Peyton has lost a lot of people in her life, Rachel, and most of them within the last year. How do you figure that her loneliness has anything to do with me?"

"If you need to tell yourself that to make you feel better, then so be it," she said, calling him out. "But if you ask me, you're hiding."

Lucas looked away for a moment before starting to speak again, "Hiding from what?"

"Isn't it kind of obvious?" she laughed in somewhat disbelief. Lucas was still denying it, but if he wanted to hear her thoughts then she most definitely wasn't gonna disappoint him.

"It's like this, Lucas. You're a good guy, but you spend most of your time trying to make up for past mistakes; for people you've hurt. And I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but you're hurting other people in the process," she stated directly at him.

"I'm just trying to do the best that I can, you know? So tell me, oh wise one. Tell me who exactly I'm hurting." It came out more snarky than he intended but he was tired and he was sick of going around on this merry-go-round of Rachel mind games, and he just wanted a straight answer.

"You mean, other than Peyton?" she asked, knowing that truth was wearing him down. When she saw the look on his face though, one of dead seriousness, she decided to get right to it. "If you really want to know who you're hurting the most by this, take a look in the mirror. A good, hard look. The person staring back at you may not seem as familiar as you would have thought."

And with that she was gone, leaving a confused and slightly stunned Lucas. Granted he knew the Peyton comment was coming considering how the rest of their conversation had gone, but a part of him was shocked by Rachel's last words. But along with all of that, other things flashed in his mind. Questions. Ones that Rachel asked him, only to find no answer.

Why keep it a mystery? If it means nothing anymore, why not set the record straight? If it means nothing anymore…

………………………………...

Peyton arrived at the bar only to find it closed. However, she remembered her next door neighbor had a spare key to her house in case of emergecies. "If only I couldn have thought of that before I walked all the way dwn here," he laughed to herself.

She made her way back to her street and successfully got the key from her neighbor. She then spent the next four hours sleeping and hanging around her room being lazy. Until she could hear a slight tap on her doorframe.

She looked up and saw the last face she expected to see. "Back for part two? Or is it three?" Peyton joked coldly as her former best friend walked slowly into her room.

Brooke just stared as Peyton tried to read her eyes, but they told her nothing. "I'm just here to pick up some things I left," she stated blankly and continued making her way around the room, picking up random objects and articles of clothing as she went.

Peyton took Brooke's gestures as that of someone who didn't want to talk. "Yea, I figured," she started, but watching Brooke pack up everything without a word between them was making her uncomfortable.

"Here, just…I don't want to be in your way, so I'll be downstairs or something," she said, making her way towards the door. Just as she arrived at it and was about to take a deep breath, she heard Brooke…and she sounded upset.

"Why did this have to happen to us, Peyton? I mean, why? Why now? Why Lucas? Why…again?" Peyton could tell she was hurt and confused and angry all at the same time.

"I don't know," she admitted honestly. It's not like she had wanted this. "I...I…I just couldn't take it anymore. It was killing me having to lie about it."

"Yet you seem to have no problems with the fact that by telling me, you killed what we had." It came out more harshly than Brooke had meant it, but she didn't care. She was pissed and she wanted to get all of that out there.

"What we had? What we had would've been ruined if I didn't tell you. For the love of God, Brooke. Do you not remember that I tried the 'lying to spare your feelings' thing last year?" she questioned as Brooke glared at her. "You know, it seems like I can't do anything right these days. So I just tried what I thought I should, and it might not have been the best way to go about it but at least I was honest. I didn't do anything wrong…not this time," she finished confidently.

Brooke let out a heavy sigh, "Unbelievable. And the sad thing is, I don't even care anymore."

"Well then, it shouldn't be a problem," Peyton stated as she let out a small laugh. "Our moms would be real proud. All this petty guy stuff ending our friendship."

She wanted it to lighten the mood a little, but as soon as the words came out she was wishing she hadn't opened her mouth a all.

"I cannot believe you had the nerve to say that," a seemingly shocked and furious Brooke replied. "You were the one who was willing to risk our entire friendship over Lucas, Peyton. And not just once, but twice. So don't you dare try to make light of that and say that it means nothing. It's not fair to me or to him."

"Fine. It means something," Peyton admitted. "It means a lot…but does it really have to mean everything? I already told you, I'm not trying to steal him from you. I can't help how I feel any more than you can, but--I'm not gonna act on it. I promise."

Brooke stared back at her, disgusted. "Do not even try to convince yourself that you're holding back for me. I wouldn't want you to do me the disservice of not telling him."

"But I don't want things to change. I just, I wanted you to know the truth," Peyton said desperately. She felt like she was screaming at the top of her lungs, but for some reason Brooke couldn't hear her. Little did she know, Brooke was feeling the exact same way.

"Open your eyes, Peyton," she nearly yelled. "Things have changed, okay? I don't know what kind of alter universe you live in, but people are affected by how you feel, whether you act on those feelings or not. It's out there and there is no going back," she said and they both knew full well that was true. Brooke headed for the door, and just when Peyton thought she was gone she turned and added, "You know, I really hope it was worth it."

The words alone sounded bitter, but the eyes of the one who said it told of a completely different emotion. It was in that moment that Peyton realized exactly how much it hurt Brooke to lose this friendship.

"Brooke," she started, not knowing what she was gonna say next. "I'm sorry. I really am," she finally choked out. "Please believe me when I say I would give anything to have this not hurt you."

There was something genuine in the way she said it that made Brooke look up and into the eyes of the person who had been through so much with her. When she did, she saw the same sincerity and sadness that mirrored her own. "I believe you, and I wish that that were enough," she said quietly with a half-smile playing across her lips. It was the only thing she could do to hold the tears back that were threatening to emerge any second. "Bye Peyton," she finished hurriedly and then rushed out of the blonde's room.

"Bye," Peyton replied, barely above a whisper, to the now empty doorway. This 'friendly' little visit made one thing clear in her mind. Something she owed Brooke and the friendship she sacrificed. She had to tell Lucas.


	3. Clarity Comes with a Price

**Almost Honest**

**Disclaimer- If I were to own One Tree Hill, Lucas and Peyton would be together, so obviously I don't.**

**Chapter 3-Clarity Comes with a Price**

After she left Peyton's, Brooke went directly to Lucas's. She stepped into his room for the first time in what seemed like ages, but she figured she couldn't ignore him any longer. Lucas was obviously surprised to see her, which made the whole ordeal that much more awkward. "Hey," she said simply, hoping he wouldn't ask any questions.

"Hey," he replied. "So…I left you a few messages."

"Yea. I got them," she admitted.

"That's all?" he questioned. "You…got them? Normally when someone's boyfriend calls them they at least have the decency to answer the phone or call them back."

"I just needed to clear my head," she sighed. "I had a some things to deal with."

"Would one of those 'things' be making up with your best friend?" he asked as she looked down.

"No. That's pretty much over," she answered. "But speaking of, have you talked to Peyton recently?" She tried to sound as casual as possible, but the reality was that it had been killing her to know.

"I wasn't aware you had given me your blessing again," he mocked.

"I didn't feel the need to give you permission since I knew you would talk to her anyway," she said honestly. He shook his head slightly as she stared directly at him, "Are you telling me you really haven't seen her?"

"No…well, yes. I--"

She cut him off when she laughed a little under her breath, "That's what I thought."

He looked at her in disbelief. "Are we seriously back here again? I feel like we keep having the same fight over and over again. You know, I thought after the wedding we decided to make a fresh start. We were gonna try things differently. But what do you do? You ignore me for three days and when I finally see you, you pull the same insecure bit you have since we got back together. And it's played out, Brooke."

She was taken aback by his sudden outburst but she wasn't all that surprised by the fight in and of itself. Lately they had done nothing but fight. At first she thought it would be good to get all of their frustrations with each other out in the open, but recently the more they screamed, the less seemed to get said. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Well then, if you're so unhappy with the way things are, why don't we solve it once and for all?" she spit out and, by the look on his face, got Lucas's attention. She calmed down a little and continued, "Maybe we just need some time apart…or something. I don't know."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you…breaking up with me?" It sounded so cliché, but he couldn't have cared less. "Brooke, I'm really trying here…"

His last sentiment was enough to make her look up and when she did the tears that had been building up began to slowly slide down her cheeks. "All we ever do is try, Lucas," she breathed. "And I can't do it anymore."

After a few minutes of mind-numbing silence, he finally spoke. "I…I don't understand," was all he managed to say.

She began to wipe her eyes and move away from him. "Think about it. We spend more time trying to make our relationship work than we do actually having one. And I can see if the universe was at odds or something, trying to keep us apart. But it's not. It's us," she said with a mix of emotions evident in her voice. Lucas was about to get defensive when she backed up even more and spoke again, "Tell me one good reason why we're together. Just one."

"I love you, Brooke. Why isn't that enough?" he asked staring into her eyes which were now filling with new tears.

"Because it's not enough," she cried, shaking her head. "You can love me until hell freezes over but it won't matter unless you talk to me. There's a part of you I wouldn't even know existed, spare a few glimpses I get that only last seconds."

"Okay, okay. Tell me what you want to know. Anything," he said, desperately trying to prevent the inevitable.

"It's too late. That part of you has been closed for a long time. It just took me a while to realize it," she said as she began to make her way towards the door.

It finally sunk into Lucas that this was really happening, "Brooke, I'm sor-" he started but was almost immediately cut off.

"Yea. You're sorry. I know. That's one of the things you have no problem telling me. But seriously don't worry about it," she said assuredly as she stood in the doorframe. "It just wasn't meant to be." She left his room quickly, with nothing more than a slight wave goodbye.

Lucas sat there, completely unsure what to react to first. All of his thoughts and feelings came rushing towards him in one big emotional tidal wave. To make things worse, his cell phone kept ringing on the table, and although he knew he wasn't exactly suitable to talk to anyone, he flipped it open and answered anyway. "Hello?"

There was no answer and he was just about to look at the screen and see who it was, but then she spoke. "Luke?"

He could tell it was Peyton and that she sounded nervous, but he wasn't sure why. "Everything okay?" he asked, getting more concerned the longer she was silent.

"Yea, I'm fine," she answered.

"Okay," he laughed. "Well then, what's up?"

She took a deep breath before answering him, "There's actually something I've been needing to talk to you about. Are you busy tonight?" She knew once they got face to face everything was going to change, and there would be no going back.

**A/N-This will be the last update for a couple weeks due to the fact that I'm going out of town. I know it's shorter than the others, but when I get back, I promise lots and lots of LP interaction. I was going to write them more in this chapter, but then I decided I'd rather tie up a few "loose ends" first, and save that for a later chapter. **


End file.
